Artist: Kawase Hasui (1883-1957)
Title: Morning at Okayama Castle Date: 1959
Okayama Castle glows beautifully, tinged pink in the early morning light, viewed through the scrim of several bare-branched trees that line our vantage point from the opposite riverbank. It must be winter, and there are extra grey blocks surrounding the branches that offer an extra, wavy texture to the trees. There are a total of three separate Hasui designs that have this view of Okayama Castle in the morning as seen from the opposite bank. There is the 1934 design titled “Okayama Castle” (Brown/Hotei number 346), with the castle only seen in a very soft light, with very muted colors. Then, in 1955, a similar design by Hasui was published by Watanabe (Brown/Hotei #606); in both of these earlier designs, there are only three trees depicted in the foreground. The 1955 design was printed with new blocks, and the colors on the castle are stronger. This work is from the commemorative edition, published in 1959 by Watanabe, after Hasui’s passing. It also was created with new blocks, as here there are seven trees shown in the foreground, as well as an interesting extra soft grey block on all tree trunks and branches that perhaps indicates the bark, or hints at the trees moving in the wind. The date at left in the margin is Showa 34 (1959). Included with this print is the rarely seen original Watanabe paper folder. The title sticker on front reads:
Woodcut print 木版画
Okayama Castle at Dawn 岡山城の曉
By Kawabata Hasui 川瀬巴水作
Published By S. Watanabe Woodcut Prints, Ginza, Tokyo （Ginza Tokyo Watanabe Mokuhan Bijutsu Gaho seisaku 東京銀座 渡辺木版美術画舖製作)
Condition: Excellent impression, color and condition.
Dimensions: ôban 38.8 x 26 cm Publisher: Watanabe Shôzaburô
Literature: Not shown in Brown/Hotei Seal: Kawase and Watanabe
SKU: HAS637
